Big Ideas

The last official American economic recession ended about five years ago. It was Post 9/11 but Pre-Iraq Invasion, and George Bush and the Republicans had a lock on the government. The Great Decider and his ideological brethren pushed tax “relief” for the wealthy and outright subsidies for their corporate friends.

Inevitably, the stock market rode high, individual wealth for a tiny segment of the population increased dramatically, and corporate profits jumped. Bush claimed that his policies – his ideology – were responsible for the economic recovery, and every chance he got he crowed about the strength of the economy.

Bush’s myopia is such that he never saw, and wouldn’t fathom if he did, that the “recovery” which looked so impressive on Fox News and in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, was a mirage for the majority of Americans who depend on wages for their survival.

In an editorial on August 29, the New York Times noted the obvious: the economic “growth” of the last five years has had a negligible impact for most of the population. According to the Times, the median household income was $1000 less in 2006 than it was in 2000. The Times went on to say that, “Indeed, earnings of men and women working full time actually fell more than 1 percent last year.”

This may be news to the Times, but it’s obvious for anyone who depends on wages for a living. Working-class Americans know a recovery when they’re in one – and for us the so-called recovery of the past five years has been nothing except a long march through a barren land. We’ve watched our productivity soar and the spoils accrue to CEO’s, hedge fund operators and Chinese bankers.

When the Times says, “This stilted distribution of rewards underscores how economic growth alone has been insufficient to provide better living standards for most American families,” we nod in agreement. Our invitation to the party never got sent because we were never meant to be invited.

Which brings us to fundamental questions about public policy and the ideas that drive that policy – questions which are generally ignored by the mainstream media and politicians of every creed. Oh, sure, Dennis Kucinich raises these questions, but Kucinich is a voice in the fog of Hillary and Barack; John Edwards has discovered that a populist message resonates with large audiences, but the media has largely written him into a corner.

While it’s clear that the Republican philosophy of giving more to those who already have the most is a total failure, the Democrats haven’t exactly excelled in the Big Idea department. All Democrats have done since the mid-90’s is ape Republicans to the point where Democrats don’t know who they are and what bedrock ideas they stand for. Barack Obama is a gifted orator, but his experience is paper thin and it’s not like he’s out there pushing the political envelope; Hillary Clinton has yet to meet a corporate cause she can’t support.

The 2008 Presidential election should be about Big Ideas, about the kind of society we want to create, and about our priorities as a nation, but it will probably be the same irrelevant claptrap voters have endured the past two election cycles. We’ll probably argue about some social sideshow like gay rights when a twisted economic policy that places the interests of the few above the needs of the many is the stake being driven through our hearts. Democrats can’t simply harken back to the New Deal because the political, military, social, and technological landscape we find ourselves in today is radically different than it was in 1932. But this doesn’t mean we can’t fashion some New Deal principles for this century.

The real question is – can we adopt such principles before it’s too late?